The NUIC has sent a team to state in every conference sport this year.

Why should baseball be any different?

Especially since Eastland (twice) and Lena-Winslow have given the NUIC a state baseball semifinalist in three of the past four years.

Aquin never even had a winning record until three years ago. Now the Bulldogs dream of state after tying for first twice and second once in the NUIC East the past three years.

“The kids know what it takes to be successful,” Aquin coach Todd Kramer said. “The way the success has been with other sports, and at other schools, they want to be in that spotlight, too.

“It’s contagious. It makes the kids work that much harder. We know if you do work that hard, and throw in a little bit of luck, you can go a long ways.”

“The bar has been raised,” agreed Le-Win coach Tom Smargiassi. “You used to try to just win games. Now going to state is our goal. It’s not a complete season unless you can make it someplace like that.”

Eastland, Aquin, Warren/Stockton and Dakota look like the best bets this year, but anyone who comes out on top of the NUIC will be a state contender. And whoever wins the NUIC East and West will have proved themselves to be a great team, regardless of what happens in the playoffs.

Dakota, which has relied on three-sport athletes to win at least a share of seven NUIC titles in eight years, still puts conference first.

“Do I plan to win a state championship because Eastland and Lena have gone there? No, I don’t,” Dakota coach Britton Kauffman said. “I know the work they’ve put in, and we haven’t yet. My kids pick up a glove the first day of practice and a week after the season they are at 7-on-7 football practice. They are wrestlers and football players. That’s just how it is at Dakota. They don’t play summer baseball.

“Lena rules the Legion league. If you play in the summer in this league, you play over at Lena. They’ve had great success and have a program that is steeped in tradition. We have different expectations here. Our goals are to win conference and a regional. Anything after that is icing on the cake.”

A team-by-team look at the NUIC East and West divisions, with teams listed in predicted order of finish:

East Division

Dakota (23-9, 13-1 last year) has a typical Dakota team, which is saying something. The Indians have won an NUIC divisional title seven of the past eight years. Dakota returns five starters. Tayler Burns (Sr. P/OF), Brandon Lizer (Sr. P/OF) and Drew Truckenmiller (Jr. OF/P) all made all-conference last year. Drew Zellmer (Jr. utility) and Kyle Stites (Sr. Inf/P) also return.

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“We will rely heavily on our two returning all-conference pitchers,” coach Britton Kauffman said. “We have decent speed, but very little experience after our top five hitters. We will need to become better at small ball and play excellent defense behind Burns and Lizer on the mound.”

Aquin (15-9, 10-4) never had a winning record before tying Dakota for the East Division title in 2010 and 2011 and tying for second last year. The Bulldogs (32-10 in the league the past three years) could be even better this year. Transfer Zach Moyer (Sr. OF/IF) joins returning starters Sawyer Shaw (Sr. P/SS); Nolan Brannick (Sr. 1B); Adam Fiener (Sr. C/P); Anthony Townsend (Jr. LF); Blake Little (Sr. 2B) to give Aquin six talented, experienced players.

“We’ve got high expectations,” coach Todd Kramer said. “The guys in front of them set the bar high and we have a lot of key guys back. But there’s a lot of good teams out there. It’s not going to be easy.”

Orangeville (11-17, 7-7) brings back returning starters Don Stewart (Jr. P/UT); Bryce Brown (Jr. P/Inf); Cameron O’Haver (Sr. C); Adam Koester (Sr. Inf/P); Ryan Kuhlemeier (Sr. Inf/P) and Dan Obert (Soph. Inf). The Broncos have never won the conference title, but came within one game two years ago. This team could make another run. “All of the guys on our team will have at least one year of varsity experience under their belts, including two that have started for four years.”

Forreston/Polo (21-15, 10-4) returns only two starters (Sr. P/1B/3B Nick Ludwig and Sr. P/3B Colton Meyer) from one of its best teams. Brett Carlson (Sr. C) was an occasional starter. Ludwig (2.97 ERA, 91 strikeouts in 70 innings) is a workhorse who led the Cardinals in ERA as both a sophomore and junior. Meyer hit .387. The Cards also have two left-handers in Dylan Bushman and sophomore Nathan Schneiderman.

“We are hungry to get our first regional title since the 1960s,” coach Kyle Zick said. “Our goals haven’t changed. We are aiming at winning both conference and regionals. The talent is there; we’re just young.”

South Beloit (5-21, 3-13) has a new field and a new coach and could have its best team in years. Its seniors finished second in the conference as freshmen playing on the JV level. The Sobos are led by Brady Cleveland (Sr. SS/P); Jordan Doll (Sr. 1B/P); Josh Draper (Sr. CF/Inf); Brenden Cleveland (Jr. C/P/2B); Camron Mazieka, (Jr. 3B/SS/P); Tyler Neblock (Sr. C/RF/P); McKenzie Mazieka (Jr. SS/P); Michael Murphy (Jr. 3B) and Chandler Dobbs (Jr. LF/1B).

“We are a little thin in the pitching department, but have great speed and plan on making defenses work,” coach Jarrod Peterson said.

Milledgeville (2-22, 1-13) used to be a league power, finishing first or second three years in a row in 2007-09 but has won only one conference game each of the past two seasons. The Missiles should be headed back up again with nine returning letter winners, including six two-time letter winners. Junior Zach Herin and sophomores Blake Kappes and Jordan Harris lead the Missiles on the mound, while Jr. OF Devin Biller is the top hitter, batting .339 last year with a .536 on-base percentage as a sophomore.

West Division

Eastland (18-19, 8-6) lost its first baseman, its shortstop and the league’s best pitcher (Highland lefty Tyler Giedd), but returns everyone else and is a strong contender to reach the state semifinals for the third time in four years. Returning for the Cougars are Ty Hartman (Sr. P/OF); Austin Young (Sr. 3B); Matt Keppen (Sr. OF/P); Ramsey Truckenmiller (Jr. C); Austin Weaver (Jr. OF); Devin Hartman (Jr. 2B) and Chase Giedd (Soph. P/1B). Also, Nick Simpson (Soph. SS) started in the playoffs.

“We’ve put it out there,” coach Weston Burkholder said of returning to state, “but we always start with regionals and work our way from there. Strong pitching is going to be our key.”

Warren/Stockton (21-10, 11-3) returns three full-time starters, two part-time starters and five lettermen from last year’s runner-up team in the West. Junior infielder/pitchers Gavin Leverton, Colton Broshous and Jordan Fox lead the Warhawks. Jason Heller (Jr. C/OF) and Jacob Brunner (Inf/P) also started some last year.

“We have depth in pitching; I’m counting on that to be our strength,” said Jim Nielsen, who is 458-248 heading into his 33rd season as coach. “We have had two consecutive good fresh-soph teams and many of our players have some varsity experience.”

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“This year’s team has experience, something we haven’t had in a few years,” first-year coach Jeremy Knauer said. “I also like our team speed, pitching depth and defensive potential. Our key question marks will be a legit shut-down pitcher and the ability to produce big innings offensively.”

Lena-Winslow (27-13-1, 13-1) graduated eight starters from last year’s Class 1A state fourth-place team. The Panthers have only one pitcher who threw a single inning last year, but that pitcher is Evan Heer, who carried a 7-1 record with a 2.13 ERA into last year’s state tourney, including a 6-0 supersectional victory. But Le-Win has been driven by hitting for 15 consecutive winning seasons — three Panthers had more RBIs than any player from any of the other three state tourney teams last year — and Heer (.265) is also Le-Win’s only returning hitter.

“This will be the most inexperienced team I have had in the last 15 years,” coach Tom Smargiassi said. “We have many juniors getting their first taste of varsity baseball. We will struggle at times. We hope to be .500 by the end of the season and be a factor in the postseason.”

Pecatonica/Durand (14-13, 7-7) has gone .500 or better in the NUIC for three years in a row after going 4-23 in 2008-09. Pec/Du’s rise should continue with six returning starters: Kyle Blassingham (Sr. P); Peter Basile (Sr. CF); Jacob Heaton (Sr. 3B); Hunter Wenstrom (Jr. C); Robbie Blassingham (Jr. SS) and Bryan Durand (Jr. RF). Kyle Blassingham should lead the team on the mound. Wenstrom is the top hitter. “We struggled at the plate last year and have worked hard to improve our plate appearances,” coach Greg Deppe said. “This along with our pitchers staying healthy gives us a chance to be competitive.”

Galena (7-15, 4-10) returns eight starting position players, giving the Pirates a good shot at their first winning season since 2007. That’s four for every one head coach: Aaron Becker and Greg Tancrell will share the head coaching job this year. And they should be even better next year: seven of those returning starters are juniors.

“Our pitching is relatively young and with the weather forcing many schools to reschedule, pitching depth could be a concern,” Tancrell said.

East Dubuque (10-13, 6-8) fell from second in the conference in 2011 to fifth last year and has a young team this season with just three returning starters: Josh Voss (Sr. OF/P); Jonah Puls (Jr. 1B) and Cory Kramer (Jr. Inf/P). Second-team all-conference catcher Cole Crenshaw is out with a knee injury suffered in football season.

West Carroll (6-28, 2-12) took its lumps last year, but now starts on the way back up, with seven returning starters, including five that are still juniors. Joey Sullivan, a four-time all-conference pick who is the Thunder’s all-time home runs, hits and doubles leader, leaves big shoes to fill. Nick Hughes (Sr. OF) and Josh Sullivan (Jr. P/C) are West Carroll’s top players. Also returning are: Tyler Westerman (Sr. P/C/1B); Shaun Magill (Jr. SS/P); Marshall Benters (Jr. P/OF); Tom Watson (Jr. C/OF/Inf) and Trevor Jones (Jr. P/OF/Inf). Two potential starters moved out of the district.

For the first time since I have been coaching at West Carroll, we have a deep pitching staff,” fifth-year coach Bryan Kamper said. “Hitting and defense will be our struggles.”

Pearl City (10-14, 6-8) has only one full-time returning starter in Cole Buss (Sr. P/1B). Other key Wolves are Tyler Thomas (Sr. OF); Mike Harrington (Jr. C); Peyton Brudi (Soph. OF) and Clayton Lieb, (Fresh. (P/3B). “We don’t have a lot of experience, but have a talented young group of kids who are committed to getting better,” coach Blake Berke said.

“Developing pitching consistency and confidence at the plate will be the keys.”